Raikkonen on Top at Jerez
Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest man on track today in day one of testing in Jerez, with four teams working on their cars ahead of next week's race at Barcelona
On a warm and sunny track Raikkonen was surprisingly quick on his Barcelona tyre compounds, which usually do not work as effectively in Jerez as they do at the northern Spanish circuit.
The Finn was also working on the set-up of the car in respect to the team's new engine, with the aim of ensuring reliability. Whether this aim was achieved is uncertain, as Raikkonen pulled into the pits at 1.30 in the afternoon and played no further part in the session.
Red Bull were working on the set-up of their car, but their programme hit a bump when Vitantonio Liuzzi had a big accident at 2.30 between turns five and six, with the car swapping ends and hitting the wall hard. The left rear wheel was split in two in the impact, with the suspension also destroyed.
Liuzzi admitted that the accident was his fault, having lost control on the approach to the corner. Luckily he was uninjured in the accident, and he noted that the car will be fixed in time for the Red Bull pair to work on their tyres tomorrow.
"I spun and hit a guardrail, and there was nothing wrong with the car," he said. "I lost it."
Franck Montagny was also working on the Barcelona specification tyres, with both Renault drivers doing long runs to concentrate on reliability of the new engine, which was given a brief race debut in the hands of Giancarlo Fisichella at Imola.
Toyota's Olivier Panis spent the day working on damper and shock absorber settings; the Toyota has traditionally struggled mechanically in Imola, and last weekend's race was no exception, so his programme was to sort out some problems in this area ahead of Barcelona.
Teammate Jarno Trulli concentrated on his car set-up in the morning before moving on to a tyre programme in the afternoon - but he stopped on track at 3.15 when his fuel pressure dropped, calling an early close to proceedings for the Italian.
Teammate Ralf Schumacher will take over his testing responsibilities tomorrow, while Alex Wurz will step into the McLaren for Raikkonen, as planned.
Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:16.923 53 2. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:17.502 73 3. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:17.514 140 4. Alonso Renault (M) 1:17.740 117 5. Montagny Renault (M) 1:17.824 128 6. Panis Toyota (M) 1:18.568 51 7. Liuzzi Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:19.891 41 8. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:20.116 46 All Timing Unofficial
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments